The hypothetical question, "What if?" has been bandied about for years. The response--always the same. "Impossible, never, couldn't happen", or "too many checks in the system." No one could just take over The United States--or could they?

The murder of a junior senator and the investigation into that killing, by the top man in the U.S. Secret Service, becomes the pivotal point at which the mundane turns sinister. The "impossible" suddenly turns plausible. Clues, and the parties involved are as diaphanous as white smoke--faintly visible, but impossible to get a grip on.

The clock is invisible and the time keeps ticking away. Who, how, and when are frustratingly evasive questions, and additional murders yield few clues if any. Can Sam and his small team thwart a plot that has international implications? The race is deadly and the stakes are the ultimate.

Sam has only two other men he can depend on. Luis Arguela, his close assistant and Moshe, a close friend and Mossad agent (retired?). They are compelled to follow clues of no substance, murders without logic and vaguely possible suspects. The possibility that the president of the United States is somehow involved must also be considered.

Operating in the U.S. with a foreign agency (Mossad) could get Sam fired or jailed, but he has no other options. Through intense, covert investigation they track down the perpetrators and bring together a collection of unusual allies to destroy an international plot, and in a convoluted manner that prevents the public from ever knowing how close the takeover was.